


Love Language Barrier

by fictionalthirst



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Awkward Flirting, M/M, Miscommunication, Subtext
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26362480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalthirst/pseuds/fictionalthirst
Summary: Gladio and Prompto have a discussion about romantic gestures.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Prompto Argentum
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	Love Language Barrier

**Author's Note:**

> This was a quick exercise I got from a writing prompt suggestion: "Write a story involving a conversation that’s packed with subtext; the characters aren’t quite saying what they mean."

“What’s that you’re reading?” Prompto asks, leaning his forearms on Gladio’s strong shoulders and looking down at the book in the larger man’s hands.

Gladio doesn’t look up from the page and responds, “Historical fiction.”

“‘The Rogue pulled away from the Knight’s arms with a flush in her cheeks-” Prompto reads aloud, his voice dramatic.

Gladio slaps the book shut and sits up with a start, glaring over his shoulder at Prompto’s smirking face as he backs away just slightly.

“I’ll have to borrow that after you’re done with it,” The blond smiles devilishly. “I never knew historical fiction could be so _interesting_.”

“Ha, ha,” Gladio grumbles. “For your information, it definitely can be interesting. This one is just a little more juvenile than most.”

“Don’t pretend,” Prompto says, crossing his arms over his chest. “You love it. I saw you smiling down at the pages. Why do you think I came over to find out what you were reading?”

“Okay, sure,” Gladio shrugs, crossing his legs and relaxing his posture again. “I like romance. Go ahead and tell Noct so he can mercilessly make fun of me.”

“I’m not gonna gossip about you to Noct,” Prompto laughs, settling his body into the camping chair right next to Gladio. “I also think it would be pretty hard for him to make fun of you when he makes googly eyes at the journal he and Lunafreya exchange via Magic Dating Dog.”

“That’s a fair point,” Gladio chuckles, leaning his weight onto his hand, elbow digging into the fabric of the camping chair’s arm.

“I think the one to watch out for is Iggy,” Prompto leans in, mirroring Gladio’s position. “If he finds out, he’ll wait and wait and then one day he’ll just absolutely roast you about it.”

“That’s a strategist for you,” Gladio replies, staring into the purple-blue depths of Prompto’s eyes. “Me, I’d just hit someone with a quick shot to the gut and then never stop vollying blows at them.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re a brute,” Prompto laughs. “Though I guess it gets the job done, most of the time. Until you need a crack shot to land the final blow.” He cheekily puckers his lips and blows away the imaginary smoke from his finger gun.

“Hmm,” Gladio murmurs. “Are we still talking about making fun of people for their hobbies?”

“I think I lost the plot a few sentences back, yeah,” Prompto grins. “So this Rogue, what’s she like?”

Gladio looks back at his book, not the least bit interested in picking it back up with such entertaining company to grab his attention. “She’s a bit stubborn, really,” Gladio answers. “She’s not very experienced in combat, but she makes up for it with enthusiasm. I’m not sure exactly why she keeps shoving the Knight away. Maybe she’s a little embarrassed that she likes him.”

“Hm,” Prompto hums, tapping a finger on his lips. “Well, what’s he like? A little mean, kinda overbearing? Sometimes a bit of a buzzkill?”

“He... can be, I suppose,” Gladio answers with a raised eyebrow. Prompto isn’t just guessing correctly; he seems to be inferring a relationship between the Knight and Gladio. “His heart is in the right place, though. He just wants to protect the Rogue and their comrades.”

“That is noble of him,” Prompto nods, shifting to cross his legs in the opposite direction. “Is there a chance he’ll loosen up a bit? Maybe show the rogue he isn’t so stodgy after all?”

“He does have a bit of a silly hobby,” Gladio answers, no longer discussing the actual contents of the book. If Prompto wants to play with subtext, Gladio is game. “So maybe if she discovers that, she’ll make a move on him.”

“Why is she the one who has to make a move?” Prompto asks, a bit offended. On behalf of the Rogue, of course. “If he’s so used to charging forward, why doesn’t he just take the lead?”

“Oh, he’s tried a few times,” Gladio replies, shrugging. “I don’t think the rogue really noticed his advances, though.”

“Didn’t he have her in his arms, on the page you were reading?”

“He _was_ pulling her out of harm’s way,” Gladio explains. “But she just doesn’t get it. She thinks he’s being overprotective. She wouldn’t know romance if it slapped her in the face.”

“Maybe he’s just not that good at being romantic,” Prompto offers. “What’s he done to try and get her attention?”

Gladio is done playing around at this point, though it is genuinely hard to tell if Prompto is playing a game or if he really _is_ clueless to Gladio’s continued advances and is genuinely asking after the characters in the story.

“Well,” Gladio begins, sifting back through the past few weeks of the journey when he had begun to try to show Prompto his affection. “There was a night when they had pretty poor accommodations, and the Knight let the rogue share his blankets.”

Gladio had, in fact, done this just a week ago. There had been a substantial downpour, and Prompto was shivering away not a foot from the larger man. Gladio had pulled his blanket over Prompto and it was only then that the blond had quit shaking and gotten a decent night’s sleep.

It doesn’t look like that declaration triggers anything in Prompto’s brain, and in fact, he looks at Gladio as if it is the lamest romantic gesture ever made.

“That’s it?” Prompto asks. “He gave her a blanket?”

“Not _gave_ ,” Gladio insists. “ _Shared_. They were huddled close, and sharing the warmth of his blanket and body heat.”

“That’s just general kindness,” Prompto shakes his head. “I’d do that for Noct. Not romantic.”

“Like you and Noct never do lovey-dovey shit for each other,” Gladio accuses.

“Well, I never said that,” Prompto laughs, fidgeting, tapping his fingers against his leg. “What else?”

“They were traversing a particularly precarious terrain, and the Knight guided the Rogue across it with his hand on her back, making sure she didn’t fall.”

Prompto is still unimpressed. “Again, not really romantic. You did that for me just two days ago in the Glacial cavern.”

_Ah,_ Gladio thinks. _So he **is** clueless, after all._

“Well, I thought it was romantic, anyway,” Gladio shrugs. “It’s not about the overt declarations of love, it’s about the little things. Things you do to protect or care for the person you lo- _like_.”

“That’s pretty sweet, and I would normally agree with you,” Prompto nods, re-crossing his legs again. Was he nervous, or just fidgety? “But if you want to get someone’s attention, you have to be just a little more obvious than that. She’s totally not getting his hints.”

“Oh?” Gladio leans away with an amused smirk spreading across his face as he braces himself on his other hand. “And what does ‘obvious’ look like to you?”

“I don’t know, maybe, like, a lot of touching?” Prompto answers. “Like, even when you don’t need to be touching them, you do anyway? Passing by them in the kitchen, putting a hand at the small of their back or on their hips?”

Gladio was a bit disappointed to search back through his memories of moving around each other in the camper and found there were no instances of Prompto doing such a thing. If anything, he shied away from touching Gladio at all. Although… he did just come up and lean across Gladio’s shoulders…

“And this works for you?” Gladio asks with genuine interest.

“Of course not,” Prompto laughs, defeated. “If I could manage to be overtly romantic, I might not be single.”

“Well, unfortunately, the Knight is not the obvious flirt type,” Gladio sighs. “At least, not with people he actually values.”

“But he does flirt with other people?” Prompto draws his brows together. “No wonder the Rogue is so clueless. She thinks he likes other people, because he doesn’t treat her the same way.”

“Good point,” Gladio mutters. “I guess the Knight isn’t sure if the Rogue would like being treated the way he behaves with his flings.”

“Probably more likely she would notice he wanted her if he wasn’t hooking up with randos,” Prompto crosses his arms, again, looking frustrated on behalf of the Rogue. Is he empathizing with her, but just not seeing that Gladio is trying to explain his behavior through the actions of the Knight? Who, by the way, is not a flirt at all with others, the Knight is as pure as driven snow. Everything Gladio is saying has become a twisted fiction, and he is becoming more and more demoralized as the discussion goes on.

With a bit of a surge of confidence and desperation to be understood, Gladio decides to take Prompto’s suggestions.

“Maybe he’s just unsure that his feelings would be returned,” Gladio offers, leaning into Prompto’s personal space, as he might if Prompto were just some pretty thing hanging around Lestallum. “Maybe he’s compensating by flirting with others because he really just wants to throw the Rogue down on the next motel bed they find, and ravish him until he gets the hint.”

“Him?” Prompto breathes, eyes darting from Gladio’s eyes to his lips. “I thought the Rogue was a woman-”

“Prom,” Gladio says, voice husky with want. “Are you really this dense?” He puts a warm hand on Prompto’s knee. There’s really no _need_ to touch him, except for the magnetic pull Gladio always feels around the blond. If this is Prompto’s love language, Gladio thinks he can get accustomed to giving in to it.

“Probably,” Prompto admits. “Just so we’re totally clear, this isn’t about the book anymore, is it?”

“Hasn’t been for a while, now, Blondie,” Gladio smiles. “But this Knight is wondering… does the Rogue feel the same?”

“Oh, yes,” Prompto breathes, leaning closer to Gladio’s face, their lips almost touching. “He definitely does.”

**Author's Note:**

> get at me on twitter: @fictionalthirst


End file.
